Photos shows Sheffield woman Teresa Shephard who disappeared 31 years ago as police resume search for her body
Teresa Shephard was just 26-years-old when she vanished without a trace
Pictured here is Teresa Shephard, the 26-year-old cutlery worker from Sheffield whose disappearance triggered a murder investigation - and a new search for her body decades on.
When Teresa first disappeared in June 1995, police commenced a routine missing person investigation.
But just over a year later, her ex-boyfriend, Peter Turner, made South Yorkshire criminal history when he was convicted of Teresa’s murder, making him the first person from the region to be found guilty of an unlawful killing without the discovery of a body.
Now, 31 years and three months on from when Teresa was last seen, it is hoped that her loved ones may finally be given answers, as police resume a search for her body.
South Yorkshire Police are currently searching land on Piper Lane in Aston, Rotherham.
Speaking today (Tuesday, September 15, 2026), a force spokesperson said they expect there is “likely to be an ongoing police presence at this location for the next few days”.
They added: “Teresa's family are aware of this update, and we will continue to keep them up to date with our enquiries. They continue to ask for their privacy to be respected.”
Turner was handed an indefinite life sentence for Teresa’s murder in July 1996, and is understood to still be in prison.
His trial heard how Turner had insisted to police he had not seen her. But when he was searched they found a book of apparently innocuous Supertram tickets.
They bore serial numbers and further investigations revealed they had been purchased with Teresa's credit card on the last day she was seen alive.
Turner had no obvious use for Supertram tickets and could give no adequate explanation of how he had tickets bought on Teresa's credit card long after he claimed to have last seen her.
A forensic examination also revealed traces of smeared blood on Turner's leather jacket and spattered on the interior of a Metro car used by the former student.
Blood samples taken from Teresa’s mother and estranged father, along with DNA from hairs found on a brush in Teresa’s Basegreen flat, allowed scientists to confirm the blood on Turner’s jacket and in the car was hers.